Political Quotes

“I thank my colleague from Mississippi. There are going to be some who say this is unprecedented by the Congress. In fact, under the Railway Labor Act, Congress is allowed to intervene. In fact, Congress has intervened 18 times in the past, imposing PEB recommendations in whole or in part 4 times. If we don't do it, if we do not force this issue, at 12:01 tomorrow night, the railroads will shut down, and the economic impact on the American people is $2 billion a day--$2 billion. The Senator from Mississippi and I have introduced a bill that will adopt the Biden administration recommendations--recommendations that include a 24-percent increase in pay, paid retroactively to 2020; annual bonuses of $1,000; and additional paid leave. This is what has been negotiated by the PEB board, but, as Senator Wicker said, there are holdouts from a standpoint of some of the major unions even though eight have agreed to it. Now, as I said, Congress has taken this action 18 times to intervene in 12 different rail disputes. It spans back to 1982, and the latest was in 1991. So I dare say there are only a few that are in this body who were here when that happened. Now, Senator Sanders is on the floor, and I know he is going to object. I know he is going to object because I read his tweet this week. It said this: Congress shouldn't stand in the way of railroad workers going on strike.…”